CHICAGO , Illinois -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The woman who received the first-ever near-total face transplant in the United States told her doctor she has regained her self-confidence , said Dr. Maria Siemionow , head of plastic surgery research at the Cleveland Clinic and leader of the transplant team .

This illustration represents the transformation of a patient who underwent a near-total face transplant in December .

The patient , who prefers to be anonymous , is finally able to breathe through her nose , smell , eat solid foods and drink out of a cup , Siemionow told participants of the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Chicago over the weekend .

The complex surgery , a 22-hour procedure , took place in December at the Cleveland Clinic . The patient received her new face in one graft from a donor cadaver .

`` I believe this procedure is justified because you need a face to face the world , '' Siemionow said . Watch an animation of the face transplant ''

The patient had previously `` suffered severe facial trauma , '' the Cleveland Clinic said . She had no nose , right eye or upper jaw before the procedure , and could not smell or eat normally . People would call her names on the street , Siemionow said .

The surgery gave the patient a nose with nasal lining , as well as a palate . This , combined with the olfactory receptors in the brain , gave the patient the ability to smell , Siemionow said .

Social reincorporation is as important as the face transplant itself , Siemionow said . At this point , the patient does n't want to face the `` common world , '' but she is facing her family , the surgeon said .

The patient said she is happy because when she puts her hands on her face , she feels a nose , Siemionow said . She can also taste a hamburger and pizza , and drink coffee from a cup , the `` things we take for granted every day , '' Siemionow said .

The patient also received lower eyelids , upper lip , skin , muscles , bone , hard palate , arteries , veins and nerves .

As for the aesthetics of the new face , Siemionow suggested that restoring function was more important . `` At this point , no one is really looking at beautification , '' she said .

Siemionow , who has been working on face transplant research for 20 years , received approval from the Institutional Review Board in 2004 to conduct a full facial transplant .

Only patients who had already exhausted all possible options for conventional repair were considered for the transplant , Siemionow said .

Currently , cancer patients are not candidates for face transplants because transplant recipients must take immunosuppression drugs for life so that the body does not reject the donated tissue , Siemionow said . In the future , however , lifelong immunosuppression may not be required , she said .

While burn damage is normally patched with pieces of excess skin from a person 's own body , this does not work if the whole face needs to be covered -- the skin of the entire back is less than half of what would be needed to cover the full face and scalp , Siemionow said .

Previously , three facial transplants had been completed -- two in France and one in China . The Chinese recipient , Li Guoxing , died in July of unknown causes , Guo Shuzhong , a doctor involved in the case , confirmed to CNN .

One of the French face transplant recipients was a man who had a genetic disorder that created large tumors on his face . The other French patient had been bitten by a dog . The Chinese patient had been attacked by a bear .

European news media recently reported that a surgeon in Spain received approval for another face transplant , which would be the fifth in the world .

Researchers are also making headway into treatments for disorders that give rise to facial abnormalities , experts say . They are identifying genes that become mutated and cause the skull and facial features to become distorted .

`` We 're moving into the arena where we can do medical treatment , '' Dr. Ethylin Jabs , professor of developmental and regenerative biology at Mount Sinai Medical School , said at the conference .

One example is Treacher Collins syndrome , a condition found in one in every 50,000 births , which affects the development of bones and other tissues in the face . Scientists have determined that the gene TCOF1 is involved in the disorder , and research is ongoing into the precise function of this protein .

By looking at the genetic underpinnings of disorders that lead to facial deformities , scientists can also understand what accounts for the normal differences in face and skull types .

`` These are going to be some of the genes that cause some of that variation , '' Jabs said .

@highlight

Face transplant recipient can now eat solid foods , smell , breathe out of nose

@highlight

The patient received her new face in one graft from a donor cadaver in December

@highlight

Skin on surface of a person 's back is not large enough to cover a face and scalp

@highlight

Doctor : Social reincorporation is as important as the face transplant itself